Catching up . . . .

Well, I've had many requests to update our blog. Here is a brief update on the last 4 months.

We celebrated July with our sealing to Olivia in the Denver, CO temple. Our family that could make it did and it was a wonderful day. The spirit was very strong. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect sealing. Our sealer even had been in our place years ago and spoke some very wonderful words about eternal families and adoption.

August flew by and Labor day was spent with Trent's family doing temple work for his ancestors.

In September, Livvy and I visited Utah to see Liz and her family, Megan and Johann and My Aunt Terri. We had a blast shopping at Ikea and visiting Temple Square and just spending time with family. I so enjoyed seeing my sisters. Sometimes it feels like I am so far away from them!

October was marked by my mom visiting with us for a week. I loved having my mom here. She helped me decide on what to paint my living room and kitchen. I know that i had to have frustrated her! I kept saying i wanted to do one thing and then didn't like any of the colors she showed me! We did finally decide on a color scheme that i love. We also finished decorating Trent"s office. We took my mom up to Pikes Peak the day before she left. That was a very long drive up! It was very neat to actually see the tree line. The view from the top was magnificent! I was very sad to see her go. I always forget what fun it is having someone else who thinks like me around.

Livvy finally began sitting up all by herself thanks to my mom. What she wouldn't do for me, she wanted to do for her Nonnie! Halloween rounded out the month. Livvy was soo cute in her fairy costume. We had one of the warmest Halloweens in about 5 to 10 years. I was glad. We didn't even need coats! Livvy tuckered out after about 2 houses. So we just followed everyone else around.

This month has just flown by. Trent and I can't even believe that it is already Thanksgiving and then Livvy's 1st Birthday. I have been busy finishing painting my living room and keeping up with Livvy's every increasing energy. Livvy has a total of 8 teeth, can't decide what she wants to eat, can go from her tummy into a sitting position and is crawling on hands and knees instead of her army crawling. She says a total of 4 words Mama, Dada, Hi and Bye. For her Aunt Kristal, she will wave bye. Trent's dental office is taking off. He has 5 staff members and has doubled the production of the previous dentist. He loves going to work everyday, which is all i can really ask for.

Today we purchased our first SUV (pic coming soon). It is an 08 Blue/Grey Toyota Sequoia. I am so excited. We discovered that our Altima was starting to be a little small. I kept running into space issues and Trent wanted a car with 4 wheel drive for the weather. We went through an Auto Broker. It was the easiest way to buy a car! We met with our broker, Brian, told him what we wanted in a car what type of car we were looking for and then went home. He did all of the looking. We paid a lot less and got everything we wanted and then everything we wished for. I highly doubt that we will ever go to a car lot again. We had no need to haggle and he took care of everything.

Colorado, We're Here!

Well we made it! We packed up our town home in less than two weeks, finalized Livvy's adoption attended Megan's wedding, packed up, cleaned and checked out of the Town Homes and drove 12 hours to Colorado. When we got here all we really wanted was sleep.

We have closed on our house and are in the process of unpacking. There are boxes EVERYWHERE! I am trying just to unpack one room completely but then i can't find something and i have to go digging through all of the boxes to find it. Just a hint to anyone moving soon: Label everything with everything that is in the box, with the room the box belongs in and try not to mix stuff that belongs in different rooms too much. I knew this but still didn't do it.

We are enjoying living in our home. Tippy is loving the back yard. We have a sand pit that she loves digging in. I can just imagine what she is finding. We also have a den of rabbits that have taken up residence back there. Tippy now stalks them. It is hilarious! Trent and I are really enjoying have an actual bedroom and not just a room with a bed in it and Livvy just can't figure out why she has to lay on the floor during the day.

Tomorrow, Trent closes on his dental practice and then we can look forward to having a paycheck in the near future (i hope!).

All in all we are really enjoying our new home. Hope you all have a wonderful Fourth of July!!

We have a house!!!!!

After looking at over a 100 houses in 2 weeks, arguing over why we should pick this house or that or that city or this one, we have finally decided on a house. It is Highlands Ranch, Colorado, about 10 minutes from Trent's office. It was not our first pick of a home or floor plan but we think that it will be a great starter home for 5 to 7 years. Here are the pictures. The bedrooms aren't those colors anymore. It was repainted about 3 weeks ago.

The trampoline is gone now. I am glad that we didn't have to remove it. I am thinking eventually putting in a swing set there.

This is the front entry and front room. I don't think that i will put a formal dinning room there. I was thinking more of a sitting room/ library/study.

This is the Kitchen and dinning room. It has a little bit more space than our town home.



Family room. I am very excited about the fireplace.




Finished basement was a big plus to us.



These are the 3 bedrooms. They are pretty big based on Colorado standards. One will be Livvy's room, another a guest room and the 3rd is still up in the air.




The master bedroom. I really like the his and her closets and an actual door that can close to our own bathroom.

Well that's it. Hope you enjoyed it.
Now if we can only pack up our town home in two weeks . . .

May Days

Well as May is coming to a close, I thought that I would finally update our blog. We have had a busy month. Graduations, family visits preparing to move. I don't know of a day where we didn't have something planned.

Trent graduated on May 10th. That was a very exciting day for us. It was wonderful to finally have four years of hard work finally over. Both of our parents, my brother and grandmother were able to come. Our house was very full. At night we could hardly walk around but we really enjoyed having everyone there.

I also had the very rare experience of having both mothers and my grandmother in one place for Mother's Day. Trent and I really loved being able to celebrate Mother's Day with them in person. Neither of us can remember the last time we were with them for that day. We had 4 generations of girls together that day!

We have been spending the last week and a half looking for a home. Finding a home is sooo stressful and tiring. In the first three days we looked at over 80 houses. All of them started to look the same. We did find the perfect house but it is in foreclosure. We found out today that it would probably take at least 3 months to hear back about our offer. That is too long, so tomorrow we start all over again looking at those same house again. Luckily, we won't look at all 80 of them. Thanks goodness!

I have finally realized that my baby is not such a baby anymore. While Trent and Iwere out celebrating our 7 year anniversary (I still can't believe it has been 7 years!), Iwatched a new mom walking a brand new baby up and down the floor of the waiting area at the Melting Pot. I just couldn't believe that Livvy was that small only 6 months ago. The time has really flown. In just two weeks, we go to court to finalize our adoption. Just to think that this time last year we were hearing that we had almost been placed with a baby but it fell through.

As Livvy gets closer to 6 months, she is really making all kinds of big leaps in her development. It feels like overnight she grasps some new ability. Livvy really enjoys eating solid food. She eats breakfast and dinner with bottles for snacks almost everyday. I think that she would eat her solid food all day if i let her. I don't think that I am quite ready for that. Livvy is beginning to show all of the signs of rolling over. She rolls to her side quite frequently. We are just waiting to come in and find her screaming because she is on her tummy.

April Comes Rushing in Like a Lion

Well, life is finally getting back to normal after our spring break vacation. I will try to write this quick because it is nap time. I can hear Livvy cooing in her bed. I always smile at how she wakes up.

Success! We decided on a practice for Trent in Denver. We are still getting particulars from the dentist. We hope to have a firm agreement before graduation. Trent found out today that there is another serious buyer looking at the practice. So we are keeping our fingers crossed that he excepts our offer. This is not the kind of information that we needed with Boards at the end of this week, but we will survive. :)

Last week, we went to the St. Louis Cardinals opening day game. We were very excited. We had great seats that included an indoor area to sit and all you can eat buffet. Oh, did i mention that it was Olivia's very first baseball game? That was a big deal. Well the game was going great and then the rain started. Boy was I ever happy about the indoor seating available. The game was called for rain and they rescheduled it for the next day.
Trent and I made the very impromptu decision to stay and go again. Now keep in mind that we only packed enough diapers and formula for one day, had no extra clothes or toiletries and were not prepared for the cold front that came through (i.e. no warm clothes or coats for any of us.) I really can't remember ever making a decision like this ever in my life, especially with a baby! We were excited right up until we spent 45 minutes on the phone trying to book a hotel while driving in the pouring rain looking for a Wal-Mart to buy some necessities.

The next day we had better luck. We spent the day sight seeing from the car and then found a great parking place next to the stadium. That night was cold, I spent the entire game inside with Olivia. Trent went back and forth between our seats and relieving me. All in all we had a wonderful time at the game and brought home some wonderful souvenirs.

Side note: Livvy is up and telling a very vocal "story" to her play mat. It includes many screams of glee and cooing. :)

That following Saturday, Livvy experienced her first Garage Sale. She was such a great sport about the chaos. We placed her bouncy seat next to my chair and she spent a lot of time playing happily or napping there while I tried to sell everyone else my junk. We had a great day. It was only marred by Livvy experiencing another first: her first Sunburn! We felt like such horrible parents because we didn't even consider that she would burn that bad. Now in our favor, we did try to keep her out of the sun with hats and a blanket over her face when she was sleeping. Now we are just chilling and slowly packing up our house. Happy Spring!

Marchin' to Spring

I know, I know . . . I am very bad at updating our blog. Another whole month has gone by without a single post. I apologize to those who still look for updates. There is not much I can say about the long time between posts except that life is busy.

March has been busy for us. Olivia and I took a trip down to visit her Nonnie (my mom) during the first week. It was fun. We visited with my sisters and their kids, went shopping braved the freakish cold weather and just hung out. It was the last time that we would be able to get together in Oklahoma. Just us sisters were even able to go out for a night of food and shopping without kids. Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

I also went to a children's consignment sale and bought Livvy way too many clothes and toys. the only way that I still can rationalize it to myself is that I was able to have her set in clothes for the rest of the summer.

My Grandparent's came to visit us for about 3 days. They had a wonderful time visiting with Olivia. they really enjoyed watching or videoing Olivia.

Livvy is just growing like a weed. Our favorite time of the day is when she wakes up. She is always just giggling and laughing at nothing. Her smiles come more easily now. Trent and I love it.

We are spending the last week of March in Denver looking for a dental practice and spending time with family.

I am updating this in Denver so pictures will be added sometime next week. Happy Spring!!

The Month of Love

Well, February is coming to a close. Trent, Olivia and I have had one lovely ride. Olivia is growing like a weed (developmentally, she is still relatively petite). Her personality is starting to show. We have already established that she will be a drama queen, a diva and today I discovered that she is very happy as a semi-nudist (diaper and socks only please). Lately, Olivia has begun to mimic the sounds we are making and then giggle. Trent and I can't help make all sorts of sounds to see what she might try. We are still working for that elusive picture of her smiling. When the camera comes out, the smile goes away!

This month, also marked the first time that we left Olivia with Nicole overnight. We took the time to travel to St. Louis for a short visit. We went for a short day trip to see if maybe St. Louis was a place to look for a practice. Unfortunately, the answer we received was no to St. Louis. We did have fun touring the Cardinal's Stadium and going up the Arch. That has been a goal of mine for the last 7 years. Trent and I also decided that while we love Olivia, we have no problems leaving her with someone we trust for a break.

Life goes on...

I know it's been awhile since we posted (Courtney says she hasn't had time to update it). We had a great Christmas. We first drove down to Oklahoma to see Court's brother Grant receive the priesthood. We then drove 10 hours to Colorado and surprised my parents on Christmas Eve. It was a blast and Olivia did great in the car. We had a pretty uneventful Christmas and enjoyed spending time with all of our family that we don't get to see that often. We stayed through New Year's and then drove home on the 2nd. A couple of days later I received great news that I passed my part 2 boards. Just one more hurdle now to graduation. I have my clinical boards in April. Olivia is now up to 9lbs. 2oz and is finally able to fit into some of her 0-3mo clothes. She is starting to smile, but we never seem to be able to catch it on film. Courtney is enjoying being home and taking care of Olivia. My schedule is pretty light this semester as I am trying to finish up patient's treatment and getting ready for boards. My schedule is so light that Court is starting to get sick of me being home too much. I guess I need to find a new hobby or something. I was able to go to Denver a couple of weeks ago and look at a couple of practices for sale. I have a couple of promising prospects so I will keep everyone posted. Stay tuned for more to come!